"W-what!? B-but Sister Aisha…"
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Before everyone's eyes, Phryne's fat body was like an elastic ball. With a sudden stomp on the ground, a "clang" reverberated, and at the same time, her whole figure shot into the air.
Over three meters in height and almost equally wide, her body's layers of fat trembled endlessly as she fell with gravity's pull.
Her left arm was raised high, and the weapon that reflected a cold glint came down with her enormous strength. After a double amplification, the ear-piercing buzzing of torn air made the watching prostitutes' faces grow heavy.
"Phryne, though it's unpleasant to admit… her strength really is formidable."
"Hmph, relying on her power to throw her weight around the Familia every day, I spit on her."
"Heh, strong she may be. But don't forget… the man she's swinging at isn't some simple prey. That's the Fron Argon, one of the city's top-class adventurer!"
Before the words had even finished, with Phryne's sharp roar, her downward slash came cleaving for Fron's head.
The young man slightly lifted his head. In his golden pupils, two rings of azure light slowly rotated.
His face bore no ripple from the sudden assault, only that ever-present smile at the corner of his lips tugging higher again.
Wind whipped across his forehead hair as he stretched out his arm from under his cloak. That not-so-muscular arm simply met her giant axe head-on. His five fingers spread, and he pinched lightly.
"Crack"
A strange sound came from the point where palm and blade met. The onlookers all widened their eyes.
"Boom!"
Fron's body did not move, not even a tremor, but Phryne's crashing strike from above shattered the stone pavement beneath his feet. Dense cracks spread rapidly from him as the center, the ground even sinking down.
"Oh? This strength… about level 5 at the upper end? Purely in terms of raw power, aside from a few individuals, I'd call you the strongest in this city."
Fron's amused gaze fell on Phryne, whose face was dark and strained, struggling desperately to wrench her weapon free from his grasp. A mocking smile appeared.
"Perhaps you thought last time you lost so miserably only because you underestimated me? Heh… Seems my name as the Night Weaver is loud, but you don't really acknowledge my strength. Or is it… that I've been too low-profile? Since that's the case, before you die I'll let you see my power. Although for dealing with you… what I'm using is just excessive experience…"
Before the words were finished, Phryne was startled to find the black-robed figure in front of her had disappeared bizarrely from sight.
Vanished, abruptly, without warning, without a trace. Just like that, his figure was gone.
In battle, when the enemy vanishes right in front of you, that is an extremely terrifying thing.
As a level 5 adventurer, Phryne of course understood this!
But there was no more time to think.
"Ahhh, Phryne, above you, watch your head!!"
The surrounding Berbera screamed in horror, as though they had witnessed some great terror.
Awakened by her "companions," her scalp tingled, her whole body shuddered. A deadly sense of danger raised goosebumps across her flesh.
That fatal sharpness, that icy chill, it came from behind her, slanting above.
"Just a mere level 5, thinking a firefly's light can rival the brilliance of the full moon, Phryne Jamil… tonight your tale will end."
"This too… is part of the Familia's Myth."
"Pssht."
A flash of blinding violet light. The next instant, that weapon or the staff, pierced through her heart as easily as poking through thin paper.
"Guh"
Phryne's eyes filled with horror and confusion. She staggered forward a few steps, stiffly twisting her neck, but despite her efforts she only caught a glimpse of that familiar silhouette from the corner of her vision.
Suddenly, her vision grew hazy, blurred. Her already unclear consciousness began to fade in and out.
"This… is… the your… power…?"
Trembling, stammering, as though spending the last of her breath, the Phryne's obese body finally collapsed onto the ground.
"Boom"
The terrifying weight slammed into the stone, everyone feeling their feet tremble.
The prostitutes, including Aisha and Haruhime, stared in disbelief, as though this were a tale from fantasy, at the fallen body.
"Is this really the same Phryne, who ran rampant within the Familia, arrogant and untamed? She… she actually died just like this?"
The white-haired Amazon stared in horror at the corpse, then realized her own closeness to Fron and hurriedly backed away.
"You, you, you… actually killed Phryne!!!"
Fron seemed not to hear her accusation, walking leisurely and unconcerned toward the high altar platform.
As he moved, the Berbera who had surrounded him earlier recoiled in fright, each face full of terror, retreating again and again from the young man.
"Step, step, step…"
With the sounds of fierce battle and explosions rising from below the tower, Fron slowly ascended the stone steps of the altar, his gaze landing on the imprisoned fox girl.
The corner of his mouth lifted, focusing instead on the wary and guarded Aisha.
"Aisha, are you going to stop me too? But if I recall, this young lady Haruhime is your little sister, isn't she? You don't want her sacrificed as the source for the Killing Stone's power. Then what reason do you have to stop me?"
"Is it that my background as a member of the [Loki Familia]isn't enough to protect her? Or that Loki's influence isn't enough to silence the other Familia? Or perhaps… you think my strength isn't enough to protect her?"
"…" Three soul-piercing questions weighed down heavily on Aisha's heart.
"P-please, don't hurt Sister Aisha!!!"
This man who had just slain a level 5 adventurer was far beyond what a mere level 3 like Aisha could contend with.
The fox girl summoned all her courage and stood up.
Seeing that firmness and bravery on her little face, Fron smiled.
"Good. I was wondering how to persuade Loki and Finn to let you join our Familia. But now… just by daring to stand before me and say No, you already have the qualification!"
"W-what!?"
Aisha, Haruhime, and even the terrified Berbera behind them were all stunned by Fron's sudden turn.
"You, you weren't here to seize the Killing Stone and Haruhime?"
At that, Fron tilted his head, giving Aisha a look as though she were a fool.
"Do I look like the kind of idiot who'd throw away a watermelon to pick up a fallen stone? Of course I wouldn't dig my own grave like that."